The Vampire's Photograph (12 page)

Oliver found Désirée looking over his shoulder again. Her face had lost a little of its grin. “Interesting, Oliver, indeed. Found yourself an Orani, did you?”

“A what?” Oliver asked, though he thought he recognized the word.

“One who sees.” Désirée nodded toward Emalie. “Though she doesn't know it, yet.” Désirée looked back to Oliver. “I guess you're no stranger to taking risks.”

“What do you mean?” Oliver asked.

Désirée's grin returned in full, the skin stretching tight, but she didn't answer. Instead, she opened the black bottle and tapped one drop onto her finger. It was a silver liquid, thick like glue, yet it immediately began to dissolve into the air.

“You'll want to apply this to the negative before you print the photo,” Désirée explained. “It will correct for the error. And make sure your—
friends
—wear gloves.”

Oliver nodded. “But what do you mean
error
?”

“Human film reacts when it's exposed to light,” Désirée said smoothly. “Humans then develop the film so that they can see the visible light spectrum. There are, of course, other spectra that humans know nothing about and would never know to develop. This tincture will bring out those spectra.”

“So this is what a vampire would use to develop their photo?”

Désirée's smile broadened more than ever. “Why, Oliver, no. This is what
you
need to develop
your
photo.”

“W…what?”

“You'll understand soon enough, won't you? Now…” Désirée slid the bottle toward him, then reached into her pocket. “I have one more thing for you.” She produced a large crimson crystal, diamond-shaped with a silver border, and hanging from a chain.

“What's that?”

Désirée held it out to him. “Just an amulet of Ephyra, for protection. Maybe you've realized by now that you're entering into a more dangerous world.” Her eyes flashed over his shoulder again. “I would advise you to wear this at all times.”

Oliver took the amulet. The crimson crystal didn't sparkle or shine, but instead seemed to absorb the light. There was the faintest burning glow from its center.

“Around your neck, dear,” Désirée offered with grandmotherly concern. Oliver slipped the chain over his head. “Now run along, before the hour gets too early.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Oliver reached into his pocket. “How much for this?”

“Five for the tincture,” Désirée replied. “The amulet is my gift to you.”

“All right.” Oliver slapped a five-
myna
square on the counter, then turned to leave.

“Oliver.” He found Désirée with her hands out in front of her, fingers touching. “I do hope you'll come again if you need to.”

“Okay,” Oliver said.

“Because you'll need to.” Désirée grinned.

Oliver headed out faster then they'd come in. His thoughts were spinning, but more than anything, he just wanted to get out of Désirée's. He led the way through the revolving door, into the bustling crowd. They made their way back to the gap and up the wall, no one speaking. They were passing the food court, when Emalie stopped again, pulling Oliver's sweatshirt, and causing Dean to bump into the two of them. Oliver spun to find Emalie pulling out her camera.

“Stop it,” he muttered, squeezing her arm.

Emalie winced, but shot him a defiant look. “Come on! We're almost home free. There's nothing wrong with—”

“Oliver!”

Oliver froze. He looked out across the food court. There, standing up from a table, was Theo. Sitting on either side of him were Brent and Maggots, all with full baskets from Berthold's.

Now Theo's face narrowed with suspicion. “What's up, buddy?” he called.

Oliver turned, grabbed Emalie and Dean by their sleeves, and started into the crowd. From behind him, he heard Theo announce, “He's gone from cows to zombies.” Oliver glanced over his shoulder, but his view of Theo was obscured by the throng.

“Come on! Hurry!” he urged, dragging Emalie and Dean toward the exit doors. He glanced over his shoulder again—

And bumped right into Theo. “What's up, Ollie?” Theo asked.

Oliver looked around, panicking, as Brent and Maggots flanked them on either side.

Chapter 10

Chasm

OLIVER FELT LIKE HIS
universe had shrunk to a small bubble, its walls formed by the crowd pulsing by on either side. He stood in the space between with his vampire classmates in front of him, and behind him were his—what? What were Emalie and Dean? Conspirators?
Friends, like
Désirée
had said?
But it really didn't matter, did it? All that mattered was that they were human.

“What are you doing here with
them
?” Theo nodded to what he thought were zombies. Emalie and Dean kept their heads down, faces hidden by their hoods. Emalie gripped the back of Oliver's sweatshirt.

Oliver didn't know how to answer. “Get out of my way, guys,” he said, and tried to step through them—

But Brent and Maggots fell in tight on either side of Theo. “No,” Theo said simply. “Not until you explain why you're walking around with a couple of smelly zombies.”

“Gross,” said Maggots, sniffing the air in an exaggerated fashion. His brow scrunched quizzically, and he scratched at his head.

“I don't have to explain,” Oliver muttered, trying to sound tough, but his insides were screaming. “Why don't you guys go annoy someone else?”

“Ha,” Theo smirked, “actually, Oliver,
you're
the one who's annoying. I guess you didn't hear.” His eyes flashed. “Wait, I get it. These are your new friends. That makes sense. Why didn't I see it coming? First, you're getting your picture taken by a—”

“Human,” Maggots mumbled.

“Yeah,” Theo continued, “And now—”

“No.” Maggots nudged Theo hard in the arm. “Humans.”

“What do you mean?” Brent asked.

“Wait….” Theo sniffed the air.

Oliver watched, helpless. He had to get out of here. But they'd never make it back to the sewers, and even if they did, Emalie and Dean weren't fast enough, not even close.

“Oh, no way!” Theo's face stretched in an amazed smile, and his eyes momentarily glowed pale blue. He looked triumphantly at Oliver. “Wow, Oliver. You're in so much trouble.”

“What?” Brent almost whined.

“Duh,” Maggots elbowed him, then pointed past Oliver. “Humans,” he muttered.

Just the word caused a passing woman to turn in shock, shaking her head as if questioning what she'd just heard. She kept walking, but Theo had seen her pause. Now he raised his arm.

“Don't,” Oliver said miserably, “Theo—”

“Humans!” Theo called. He didn't sound malicious, like they were just a couple of kids messing around or playing a joke; he sounded like he was stating an important, disturbing fact. “Humans!” he called again.

The entire crowd began to slow and turn, and immediately, others picked out the scent. Oliver knew the zombie jackets were strong enough if you weren't
looking
for humans, but if you were….

Now Maggots joined Theo. “Humans!” They announced together.

“Impossible,” an adult said amid the grumbling crowd. Suddenly, someone snatched the hood off of Emalie's head.

A gasp seemed to silence the entire Underground. Dean's hood was pulled off as well. Everyone was coming to a stop, bumping into one another as they turned their heads.

Oliver watched it all happening, and knew there was nothing he could say, nothing he could do, except….

He grabbed Emalie and Dean by their arms and slammed sideways through the stopping confusion of people. “Hold on to me!” he shouted. They were both too scared to reply, but he felt them grip his shoulders as he burst through the surprised crowd, vaulted onto the stone railing, then leaped into the chasm.

There was a chorus of shocked and surprised voices, but it was quickly drowned out by the rush of air. They sailed down from the top floor, and in moments, Oliver knew that there was no way he could control their fall. He concentrated hard, trying to hold on to the forces. It was no use. His grip was already slipping. They were picking up speed—

But he could maneuver them a little, and so he arced toward the nearest levitating vampire, slamming into him in midair.

“What the—” the older gentleman grunted.

For a moment, they became a tangle of four bodies, but then the adult righted himself and the group's fall slowed. Oliver was hanging on to the man's shoulder, with Emalie and Dean hanging on to both of his. The man eyed Oliver and the humans with confusion, but then his face began to darken demonically.

“What do we have here?” He clawed at the humans.

But Oliver was already vaulting away, pushing hard off the man. They sailed upward for a moment, then began to fall again, plunging down two more levels, and landing on a large woman who was floating serenely, a raven perched on her shoulder.

“What!?” she bellowed. The raven flapped free of her shoulder, and the foursome careened into the torrent of falling water in the center of the chasm. They were immediately soaked and wrapped in the water's roar. The woman's hat was lost, and her gray hair matted down over her snarling face. “How dare you!” This woman was very strong. Despite their tangle and the force of the water, Oliver could feel her holding the group's descent at a reasonable speed. Now she somehow got a hand free and reached wildly for Dean. “Twisted boy!” the woman scolded, water rolling down her bloated face. “But I'll take the snack!” Her nails raked across his arm.

“Ahh!” Dean shouted.

Oliver struggled to keep her at bay, while at the same time trying to get his feet onto her to lunge away. He ended up kicking her hard in the stomach.

“Bah!” the woman groaned. “You're a miserable excuse for our kind!”

Their tangle of bodies flew free of the waterfall. Oliver was just getting himself righted when he felt a searing pain in his shoulder. “Gah!” The raven was already flying away, having left a deep puncture in Oliver's shoulder. He could hear it clucking as it circled around for more.

“I'm going to—” the woman started.

But Oliver finally planted his feet and launched them away with all the strength he could muster. They arced across the chasm. In a dizzying blur, Oliver saw the lowest levels of the Underground and the deep crimson glow from below. They were entering the steam clouds now. If this jump didn't work…

Suddenly, they were tumbling onto hard rock. Oliver found himself on his back, staring up at the underside of the lowest platform of the Underground. He could see heads peering over the edges of the railings in different spots, but he could also see others levitating across the chasm, business as usual.

Oliver sat up and saw that they were on a carved stone ledge. Steam clouds crawled along the walls. A cave led into darkness behind them.

“Uh,” Emalie groaned. She got to her knees and rubbed at her arm.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I'm fine,” she said, but as she moved her arm up and down she grimaced. Then she opened her zombie coat—to find her camera broken. The lens was cracked, and film was spilling out of the back. “It was my mom's,” she said with a sigh.

“I'm sorry,” said Oliver.

Emalie gazed up the chasm. “What would have happened to us up there?”

Oliver stood up, brushing himself off. “You don't want to know.” He checked his pocket and was relieved to find the glass bottle intact. “We need to get out of here.”

Emalie stood. She looked at him severely.

“I shouldn't have brought you down here,” Oliver said.

“No.” Emalie shook her head. “It would have been my fault, if—” She shook a little, and now started crying quietly.

Oliver had no idea what to do. Crying wasn't something that he'd ever had to deal with before. He'd been taught that it was something that only weak creatures with souls did.

“I made you bring us, I—” Emalie balled her hands into tight fists, staring at the ground. She held her breath for a long minute, then shook it off.

Oliver waited a second. “We should go,” he said again.

Emalie nodded.

“Whoa.” Dean was standing at the edge of the ledge, looking down. Oliver and Emalie joined him.

The chasm still dropped into darkness, but the red glow was more apparent. Bare rock walls dropped another hundred feet, and then there were more ledges. The view was obscured by steam, but they could just make out more caves leading away from the chasm, lit by red and lavender lights, and hear the din of much activity. The sound was different than in the mall above. This was rougher somehow, darker. There was the harsh clinking of metal. The rumble of primitive machinery, the echo of a deep drum…

“That's the Yomi?” Dean whispered.

“Yeah,” Oliver said quietly.

Now a particularly loud crash, and the whine of tinny music.

“W…what's it like?” Dean asked.

“It's pretty Old World,” Oliver said. “Kind of lawless. There are vampires who live there and never come to the surface. Zombies and wraiths, too.” Oliver had never been to the Yomi. The thought of it actually made him a bit nervous. Just being a vampire wasn't enough to ensure safety down there. “Come on,” he said.

They walked away from the ledge and headed into the cavern. A low rock ceiling arced over them. The dark space widened, and a pale yellow light increased. They reached a cobblestone walkway and followed it.

“Put your hoods back up,” Oliver instructed. Emalie and Dean quickly did so. They emerged from darkness onto what looked like a subway train platform. Its walls blinked with flashing video screens that were so thin they hung like cloth. Beside the platform was a large, clear tube. Vampires stood about, alone and in families, waiting patiently, some with luggage at their sides.